Bags are packed, I'm ready to go

 The waiting is over now. Tomorrow I check in to Presbyterian St. Luke's Hospital in Denver for the preparation phase of my bone marrow transplant (5 days of chemo, then 2 short bursts of radiation) to ensure all the bad cells are out of my body..

That is done through an IV port in the chest; that's the part I am most apprehensive about right now. Unlike many who have cancer, I have not had to undergo surgery in the process. I'm no stranger to the knife (3 c-sections and gallbladder removal) but I do not relish the pain when anesthesia wears off.

Then, thanks to a generous 18-year-old German woman, my new stem cells will be infused on Monday, then we wait some more to see how my body reacts. Will the "old me" welcome these new cells and let them take over or will they put up a fight and cause problems, what the docs call Graft vs. Host Disease. It can be as simple as a skin rash or more involved, but there are good medicines to handle whatever happens.

And that's it!  

The hardest part of all this has been following the transplant center's rule that my caregiver(s) and I must stay within 20 miles of the hospital for about 90 days. Our home is 28 miles away.

Thus began the search for temporary housing in Denver. True, our situation might be a little unique as my daughter will come from Chicago to share the load of caregiving. so we needed more than the one-bedroom apartment the transplant center usually arranges. And the 90 days will span the Christmas holidays so we expect to enjoy some family time together.

What a saga --we were almost caught in a scam where people would take our money for a house they didn't have. Buyer Beware! Then the landlord of a 1940s-era tract house wanted ridiculously extensive background checks at our expense (both financial and potential online exposure). 

So many others listed online either got rented before we got to them or were more scams, because the listing people NEVER responded to our requests for in-person showings. So rude -- if you post something for sale (or in this case, rent), have the decency to answer people who want it....

And then you have the differing tastes of the parties involved. I love old houses, and Denver is full of "cute bungalows" with tiny kitchens, clawfoot tubs and questionable stairs. My husband wants to be careful and have the comforts of home in this century, including a garage to charge his electric vehicle. 

A lovely compromise in the West Highland neighborhood (former site of Elitch Gardens amusement park) will serve as our home for the coming months. It may not be perfect (as our Evergreen home is) but it fills the bill.

I'll definitely miss the big picture window full of bright blue sky when I wake up each morning, the keening bugle of the elk in the yard and the first winter in Evergreen (most of it), but I'll return in March (likely) with a whole new immune system.

Can't wait to start over. I'll try to treat this one better.